1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a feeder for deer or similar animals which is designed to be suspended from a tree and filled with grain or other feed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Populations of deer in rural and suburban areas of large portions of the United States have been dramatically increasing in recent years. As the populations increase, the need for feed for the animals also increases. In bad years, feed can be scarce and starvation can occur. In order to help alleviate this problem, residents of the effected area sometimes wish to put out feed for the animals. Land owners hoping to draw and hold deer on their property can do so by making feed for the deer readily available.
Scattering loose feed on the ground is not very efficient. Much of the feed is wasted or consumed by undesirable species, such as rodents. Free-standing feeders for deer need to be very sturdy, as the large and powerful deer will quickly knock over a flimsy feeder, spilling the feed. As a result, free-standing feeders for deer are relatively expensive to build and difficult to transport.
What is needed is a cheap and effective feeder which preserves the feed and which the deer cannot easily topple or destroy.
The present invention comprises a deer feeder adapted for hanging in a tree. The feeder includes an upright tubular feed reservoir having a top end and a bottom end. A feeding port angles upwardly from and communicates with the feed reservoir proximate its bottom end. The feeding port has an open end through which deer can access feed from the reservoir. The feeder further includes a lid selectively closing the top end of the reservoir and a floor closing the bottom end.
In a first embodiment of the feeder, a flexible support member such as a chain is connected to the reservoir proximate its top end and so as to be engageable with the tree to suspend the feeder therefrom. A cleat extends outwardly from the feed reservoir and engages the tree trunk in order to stabilize the feeder relative to the tree.
In a second embodiment, the exterior surface of the feeder is corrugated so as to include a plurality of transverse ridges separated by grooves. The feeder is connected to a tree trunk by flexible securement members, such as cables, which encircle the feeder and engage the grooves on the exterior surface.